Pastaland
By: Connor Lenahan
A fun rumor circulated the Dean of Students office at Boston University last week. With just a few days to go before the BU Men’s Basketball team departed for Italy the tidbit had been passed amongst the daytime occupants that I too would be venturing to Pastaland. How did I happen upon this rumor? Because just the other morning at work our Dean of Students, the legend himself, Kenn Elmore, approached me with a smile and quipped “so I heard you’re off to Italy!”
After sadly informing him that no, in fact, I was not heading to the world capital for risotto, I started to laugh. It made sense to assume that I would be joining my brothers on the team overseas, but instead I sit in my bed in Pennsylvania having spent the weekend before my birthday with my family.
Tomorrow morning, however, I will awake at a normal time and, most likely, consume left over chicken wings from this weekend whilst my guys are on a plane en route to Pastaland.
The best part about this trip is the chance to finally say that basketball is back. While a lot of my friends on the team have been on campus like me for the summer it has been for conditioning and workouts as opposed to formal practice. Now, however, it feels real. The guys are going to be playing four games against pro teams in Italy. The most fun part of this being that they must abide by international rules, meaning a different ball and court setup.
Regardless of the changes this looks to be a great experience for the guys. After the massive overhaul of the roster earlier this year. We lost six players to transfer/graduation while finally getting back Eric Fanning and Blaise Mbargorba – transfers from the season prior who had to sit out a season – and adding three freshmen in Cheddi Mosely, Eric Johnson, and Nick Havener. This has created a drastically different men’s team than the one I watched last fall.
The beautiful part in this change is that one thing held constant – these are still my brothers. These are still some of my best friends in the world. They are still incredible people and inspirations to me. They are still a great team.
So while I am not joining them tomorrow morning on the flight to Pastaland in person, I will be there in spirit. Because I love my guys. I’m going to try and follow these games in any way I can. Because finally basketball is back. And because of that, life is good.